December 2003/January 2004

Volume 44, Number 3

September meeting review: Self-Publish Your Book and Keep All the Profits, presented by Marilyn Ross

by Joel Meier

Though not particularly interested in the topic of self-publishing, I am very glad that I showed up to the September chapter meeting to learn more about it. Marilyn Ross did a wonderful job explaining the ins and outs of self-publishing and gave some wonderful insights on how to maximize your profit potential.

Why self-publish?

Self-publishing is the choice of many authors because you can:

• Call the shots, which means that you control your own project.
• Get to market faster because you are your own publisher.
• Increase your profit margin, which means that you make more money than with publishers.
• Afford to give books away. This is a great marketing strategy.

Self-published books that you might know

Here are a few books that are currently self-published, or were originally:

• What Color is Your Parachute? by Richard Nelson Bolles
• The Elements of Style, by William Strunk
• The Christmas Box and The Last Promise, by Richard Paul Evans
• Small Time Operator, by Bernard Kamoroff
• Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson and Kenneth H. Blanchard
• Locks: How They Work and How to Pick Them, by Dennis Steicker
• The Wealthy Barber: Everyone's Commonsense Guide to Becoming Financially Independent, by David Chilton

How to write a book that sells

Of course there is no one way to write a book. However, Ross gave several pointers that the novice author should consider:

Positioning

Think of all of the cookies in the supermarket. Each brand has "positioned" itself to be a little different. In order for your book to be well positioned, it must be different than the competition by being funnier, longer, and shorter—whatever will set it apart.

Different content

Do your research and find out what is out there. Although there are many ways that you could research, going to the Tattered Cover just to survey the field might not be the most productive. Surf Amazon to see what books have already been published on your subject. Go to the buyer of a major bookstore and ask for a recommendation of the three best books on your subject. Then buy them and study them.

Different packaging

Find a unique way to present your book. For example, one of Ross' clients packaged a cookbook targeted at starving students with a frying pan, while another included a pooper-scooper with a book about raising puppies.

Different pricing

Ensure that you adjust your pricing strategy according to your market. While starving students will probably not pay $50 for a cookbook, lawyers and dentists might. So, if your cookbook focuses on, say, 100 creative methods for preparing Ramen noodles, price it accordingly.

Design

Ensure that you have a well-planned design for the cover, the spine, and the order form on the next-to-last page.

Remember that the front, back, and spine form the first impressions for potential buyers. Put the majority of your energy into the spine. It is what will display in the store. Use big letters and ensure that they are readable.

Choose the right size of type and leading for your book. You should also consider making the next-to-last page of the book an order form so that people who like your book can order more.

Printing

Printing is the largest expense you will incur. Two choices for printing are:

Print on demand

Print on demand is both a blessing and a curse. You pay more per book, but you can choose a short run and fewer volumes per printing.

Book manufacturing or traditional printing

Whether you print on demand or use a traditional publisher, you should consider the following:

• The best quantity to print is 3,000, which will help lower the cost per unit.
• Use even signatures of 16 pages, 32 pages, and so on.
• Use standard paper. Printers buy standard paper by the trainload. This will help keep your production costs down.
• Get an overrun on the covers. You can use these covers for presentations, order forms, and postcards.
• Consider hardcover versus soft cover. Hardcover books are perceived as more credible and are higher priced. However, soft cover might reach a larger audience.
• Price your book for profit. A book should cost five times the production cost. Make sure that your book is approximately the same price as other books in your subject matter.

Marketing, sales, and publicity

Marketing starts the minute you start writing the book, and never stops. Marketing strategies include ensuring that you ask for reviews, and writing standalone chapters that can be published separately.

Bookstores aren't your only options for sales. In fact, Ross said that 52% of all books are not sold out of bookstores. Other markets to consider are distributors, libraries, and schools.

Remember that self-publishing also means self-publicizing and self-marketing. Ross offered the following tips:

• Take every opportunity to get a review. Reviews beget sales.
• Send out news releases. Get in to the newspaper Entertainment section, Real Estate section, Business section, or wherever there is a fit for your creation.
• Get a mention in an article.
• Have a Web page and include a "Here is what people are saying" section.
• Make strategic alliances. Ask yourself: whose back can I scratch and who can scratch mine? Who has my market and how do I make a connection with them?
• Do not overlook catalog marketing. There is a catalog for everything.
• Outlets, hardware stores, hobby shops-market to them all.
• Remember the 80/20 rule: 20% of your activities will account for 80% of your results.
• Ask for what you want. Be clear.
• Make it easy for people to do what you want them to do. For example, send newspapers their own reviews.
• Follow up, follow up, and follow up.
• Finally, self-publicize and self-market before you go to a trade publisher.

Conclusion

The September meeting was a complete eye-opener for me. Ross made me see that self-publishing really makes sense as the first step to getting that book out of your head and to market.

For more information on self-publishing, email questions to Marilyn@MarilynRoss.com, or visit her Web site at www.communicationscreativity.com.